Method, base station, and system for sending rrc signaling

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method, a base station, and a system for sending RRC signaling, and in the method for sending RRC signaling provided in the embodiments of the present invention, a pico base station and a macro base station participate in configuration and generation of an RRC reconfiguration message; the pico base station establishes only one RRC entity that is used to generate a configuration parameter or an RRC entity; the RRC reconfiguration message cooperatively generated by the pico base station and the macro base station is uniformly sent by the macro base station to a user equipment. Therefore, the user equipment UE can support, only by establishing an SRB corresponding to the macro base station, an RRC reconfiguration message sent by the pico base station, thereby lowering design complexity and costs.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/754,278, filed on Jun. 29, 2015, which is a continuation ofInternational Patent Application No. PCT/CN2013/089426, filed on Dec.13, 2013, which claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No.201210593797.1, filed on Dec. 31, 2012. All of the afore-mentionedpatent applications are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to the field of communicationstechnologies, and in particular, to a method, a base station, and asystem for sending RRC signaling.

BACKGROUND

Release 10 (Release 10) of a Long Term Evolution (Long Term Evolution,LTE for short) technology, that is, an R10 system can support a carrieraggregation (Carrier Aggregation, CA for short) technology, that is,multiple component carriers (Component Carrier, CC for short) can beallocated to one user equipment (User Equipment, UE for short) tosupport a higher data transmission rate. A UE that supports CA may haveone primary cell (Primary Cell, PCell for short) and one or moresecondary cells (Secondary Cell, SCell for short).

A future release of LTE, such as R12, may support LTE-Advancedmulti-stream aggregation (Multi-Stream Aggregation, MSA for short). Thisis a new technology that is used to increase a cell edge rate and isproposed at a 3GPP LTE-Advanced future evolution conference. MSA may beapplied to inter-base station coordination of a macro cell to increasean edge user rate, or may be applied in a heterogeneous networkingscenario of a large cell and a small cell to increase a peak rate for auser and simplify mobility management, thereby creating consistentservice experience for the user. In future development of mobilebroadband, user experience is the biggest concern of operators. In amobile communications coverage area, users in different geographicallocations should enjoy a mobile service of same quality. However, in acellular communications system, system performance at an inter-cell edgeis often one of the biggest challenges during design of a mobilecommunications system. If LTE, a mainstream technology for futurewireless communications, and an evolution technology of LTE cannotimprove user experience at a cell edge location, wide application of LTEmay face a great challenge. A core idea of MSA multi-stream aggregationis that with a dynamic system adjustment, a user can always receivedownlink data from a cell or a cell group with a best signal and performdata stream aggregation. In a similar manner used in an uplinkdirection, the user always transmits uplink data to the cell or the cellgroup with the best signal and performs data stream aggregation on anetwork side.

For a UE that supports CA, MSA may be considered as cell aggregation ofdifferent base stations (Evolved NodeB, eNB for short). In a releaseearlier than R11, both a PCell and a S cell of a UE belong to a sameeNB. However, for a UE in MSA, a PCell and a SCell may belong todifferent eNBs.

For a scenario in which a Macro eNB and a Pico eNB are in same coverage,a UE may receive both a signal from the Macro eNB and a signal from thePico eNB. The Macro eNB implements a control plane function of the UE,including a mobility management function of the UE. The Pico eNB ismainly used to carry an indoor data service with low mobility, toimplement a user plane function. That is, a user plane and a controlplane of an air interface are in a separated manner, that is, C/Useparation. A link from the Pico eNB to the UE is only responsible fordata transmission on the user plane, and control plane signaling fromthe Pico eNB to the UE is transmitted over a link from the Macro eNB tothe UE. A connection between the Pico eNB and the Macro eNB is a wiredconnection and is similar to an X2 interface. Once the UE and the MacroeNB establish an RRC connection, the Macro eNB transmits RRCconfiguration information required by the Pico eNB to the Pico eNB byusing a newly-defined interface message. Related configurationinformation may be sent to the Pico eNB when the UE and the Macro eNBestablish the RRC connection.

C/U separation may also be separation in broad sense. Referring to FIG.1, FIG. 1 is a protocol stack architecture in the prior art. A Pico eNBestablishes, for a signaling radio bearer (Signaling Radio Bearer, SRBfor short), a protocol entity from a physical layer (Physical, Phy forshort) to a Packet Data Convergence Protocol layer (Packet DataConvergence Protocol, PDCP for short). Two sets of SRBs are establishedon a UE side and are respectively corresponding to a Macro eNB and thePico eNB. In this protocol architecture, the Macro eNB may directly sendgenerated RRC signaling to the UE, as shown by a dashed line A in FIG.1; the Pico eNB may also transport RRC signaling to the UE, but the RRCsignaling is generated by the Macro eNB, as shown by a dashed line B inFIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 is another protocol stack architecture inthe prior art. A Pico eNB establishes, for an SRB, a protocol entityfrom Phy to RRC, but the Pico eNB is only responsible for configurationat bottom layers, that is, configuration of Phy, MAC, and RLC of thePico eNB is completed by RRC of the Pico eNB. Two sets of SRBs areestablished on a UE side and are respectively corresponding to a MacroeNB and the Pico eNB. In this protocol architecture, the Macro eNB maysend generated RRC signaling to the UE, and the Pico eNB may alsogenerate RRC signaling and send the RRC signaling to the UE.

During a process of studying and practicing this method, the inventor ofthe present invention finds that, to support MSA, two sets of SRBs needto be established on the user equipment side to support RRC signalingfrom the Macro eNB and that from the Pico eNB, thereby increasing designcomplexity and costs.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method, a base station,and a system for sending RRC signaling, so that a user equipment cansupport, only by establishing an SRB corresponding to a macro basestation, RRC signaling sent by a Pico eNB, thereby lowering systemdesign complexity and costs.

According to a first aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides a method for sending RRC signaling, including:

participating, by a macro base station and a pico base station, ingeneration of an RRC reconfiguration message, sending, by the macro basestation, the RRC reconfiguration message to the UE, where the pico basestation establishes only one RRC entity that is used to generate aconfiguration parameter or generate an RRC reconfiguration message.

In a first possible implementation manner, with reference to the firstaspect,

the participating, by a macro base station and a pico base station, ingeneration of an RRC reconfiguration message specifically includes:

receiving, by the pico base station, an X2 interface message sent by themacro base station, where the X2 interface message includes a messagefor requesting to add/modify a cell, or a message for requesting toadd/modify a radio bearer RB;

responding, by the pico base station, to the received X2 interfacemessage, and generating a configuration parameter; and

sending the generated configuration parameter to the macro base station,so that the macro base station generates an RRC reconfiguration messageby using the received configuration parameter, and sends the generatedRRC reconfiguration message to the UE.

In a second possible implementation manner, with reference to the firstaspect,

the participating, by a macro base station and a pico base station, ingeneration of an RRC reconfiguration message specifically includes:receiving, by the pico base station, an X2 interface message sent by themacro base station, where the X2 interface message includes a messagefor requesting to add/modify a cell, or a message for requesting toadd/modify a radio bearer RB;

responding, by the pico base station, to the received X2 interfacemessage, and generating a configuration parameter; and

encapsulating the generated configuration parameter into a container andsending the container to the macro base station, so that the macro basestation generates an RRC reconfiguration message after receiving thecontainer, and sends the RRC reconfiguration message to the UE, wherethe RRC reconfiguration message includes the container.

In a third possible implementation manner, with reference to the firstaspect, the participating, by a macro base station and a pico basestation, in generation of an RRC reconfiguration message specificallyincludes:

receiving, by the pico base station, an X2 interface message and aconfiguration parameter that are sent by the macro base station, wherethe X2 interface message includes a message for requesting to add/modifya cell, or a message for requesting to add/modify a radio bearer RB; and

generating, by the pico base station according to the received X2interface message and the received configuration parameter, an RRCreconfiguration message, and sending the generated RRC reconfigurationmessage to the macro base station, so that the macro base station sendsthe received RRC reconfiguration message to the UE.

In a fourth possible implementation manner, with reference to the firstaspect, the participating, by a macro base station and a pico basestation, in generation of an RRC reconfiguration message specificallyincludes:

sending, by the macro base station, an X2 interface message to the picobase station, where the X2 interface message includes a message forrequesting to add/modify a cell, or a message for requesting toadd/modify a radio bearer RB, so that the pico base station responds tothe received X2 interface message, generates a configuration parameter,and sends the generated configuration parameter to the macro basestation; and

generating, by the macro base station according to the receivedconfiguration parameter, an RRC reconfiguration message, and sending theRRC reconfiguration message to the UE.

In a fifth possible implementation manner, with reference to the firstaspect, the participating, by a macro base station and a pico basestation, in generation of an RRC reconfiguration message specificallyincludes: sending, by the macro base station, an X2 interface message tothe pico base station, where the X2 interface message includes a messagefor requesting to add/modify a cell, or a message for requesting toadd/modify a radio bearer RB, so that the pico base station responds tothe received X2 interface message, generates a configuration parameter,encapsulates the generated configuration parameter into a container, andsends the container to the macro base station; and

generating, by the macro base station after receiving the container, anRRC reconfiguration message, and sending the generated RRCreconfiguration message to the UE, where the RRC reconfiguration messageincludes the container.

In a sixth possible implementation manner, with reference to the firstaspect, the participating, by a macro base station and a pico basestation, in generation of an RRC reconfiguration message specificallyincludes: sending, by the macro base station, an X2 interface messageand a configuration parameter to the pico base station, where the X2interface message includes a message for requesting to add/modify acell, or a message for requesting to add/modify a radio bearer RB, sothat the pico base station generates an RRC reconfiguration messageaccording to the received X2 interface message and the receivedconfiguration parameter, and sends the RRC reconfiguration message tothe macro base station; and

sending, by the macro base station, the received RRC reconfigurationmessage to the UE.

According to a second aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionfurther provides a base station, where the base station includes a firstreceiving module, a first generating module, and a first sending module,where:

the first receiving module is configured to receive an X2 interfacemessage sent by a macro base station, where the X2 interface messageincludes a message for requesting to add/modify a cell, or a message forrequesting to add/modify a radio bearer RB;

the first generating module is configured to respond to the X2 interfacemessage received by the first receiving module, and generate aconfiguration parameter; and

the first sending module is configured to send the configurationparameter generated by the first generating module to the macro basestation, so that the macro base station generates an RRC reconfigurationmessage by using the received configuration parameter, and sends thegenerated RRC reconfiguration message to a UE;

or,

the first receiving module is configured to receive an X2 interfacemessage sent by a macro base station, where the X2 interface messageincludes a message for requesting to add/modify a cell, or a message forrequesting to add/modify a radio bearer RB;

the first generating module is configured to respond to the X2 interfacemessage received by the first receiving module, and generate aconfiguration parameter; and

the first sending module is configured to encapsulate the configurationparameter generated by the first generating module into a container, andsend the container to the macro base station, so that the macro basestation generates an RRC reconfiguration message after receiving thecontainer, and sends the RRC reconfiguration message to the UE, wherethe RRC reconfiguration message includes the container;

or,

the first receiving module is configured to receive an X2 interfacemessage and a configuration parameter that are sent by a macro basestation, where the X2 interface message includes a message forrequesting to add/modify a cell, or a message for requesting toadd/modify a radio bearer RB;

the first generating module is configured to generate an RRCreconfiguration message according to the X2 interface message and theconfiguration parameter that are received by the first receiving module;and

the first sending module is configured to send the RRC reconfigurationmessage generated by the first generating module to the macro basestation, so that the macro base station sends the received RRCreconfiguration message to a UE.

According to a third aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionfurther provides another base station, where the base station includes asecond sending module, a second generating module, and a third sendingmodule, where:

the second sending module is configured to send an X2 interface messageto a pico base station, where the X2 interface message includes amessage for requesting to add/modify a cell, or a message for requestingto add/modify a radio bearer RB, so that the pico base station respondsto the received X2 interface message, generates a configurationparameter, and sends the generated configuration parameter to the secondgenerating module;

the second generating module is configured to generate an RRCreconfiguration message according to the received configurationparameter; and

the third sending module is configured to send the RRC reconfigurationmessage generated by the second generating module to a UE;

or,

the second sending module is configured to send an X2 interface messageto a pico base station, where the X2 interface message includes amessage for requesting to add/modify a cell, or a message for requestingto add/modify a radio bearer RB, so that the pico base station respondsto the received X2 interface message, generates a configurationparameter, encapsulates the generated configuration parameter into acontainer, and sends the container to the second generating module;

the second generating module is configured to respond to the receivedcontainer and generate an RRC reconfiguration message; and

the third sending module is configured to send the RRC reconfigurationmessage generated by the second generating module to a UE, where the RRCreconfiguration message includes the container;

or,

the base station includes a fourth sending module and a fifth sendingmodule, where

the fourth sending module is configured to send an X2 interface messageand a configuration parameter to a pico base station, where the X2interface message includes a message for requesting to add/modify acell, or a message for requesting to add/modify a radio bearer RB, sothat the pico base station generates an RRC reconfiguration messageaccording to the received X2 interface message and the receivedconfiguration parameter, and sends the generated RRC reconfigurationmessage to the fifth sending module; and

the fifth sending module is configured to send the received RRCreconfiguration message to a UE.

According to a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionfurther provides a system for sending RRC signaling, including a macrobase station and a pico base station, where:

the macro base station and the pico base station are configured toparticipate in generation of an RRC reconfiguration message; and

the macro base station is further configured to send the generated RRCreconfiguration message to the UE; where

the pico base station establishes only one RRC entity that is used togenerate a configuration parameter or generate an RRC reconfigurationmessage.

It can be learned from the foregoing that, in a method for sending RRCsignaling provided in the embodiments of the present invention, a picobase station and a macro base station participate in configuration andgeneration of an RRC reconfiguration message, and the pico base stationestablishes only one RRC entity that is used to generate a configurationparameter or an reconfiguration message; and the RRC reconfigurationmessage cooperatively generated by the pico base station and the macrobase station is uniformly sent by the macro base station to a userequipment. Therefore, the user equipment UE can support, only byestablishing an SRB corresponding to the macro base station, an RRCreconfiguration message sent by the pico base station, thereby loweringdesign complexity and costs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

To describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the presentinvention or in the prior art more clearly, the following brieflyintroduces the accompanying drawings required for describing theembodiments or the prior art. Apparently, the accompanying drawings inthe following description show merely some embodiments of the presentinvention, and a person of ordinary skill in the art may still deriveother drawings from these accompanying drawings without creativeefforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an RRC protocol stack architecture inthe prior art;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of another RRC protocol stack architecturein the prior art;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for sending RRC signaling according toan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an RRC protocol stack architecture thatis corresponding to a method for sending RRC signaling according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of another method for sending RRC signalingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of another method for sending RRC signalingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of another method for sending RRC signalingaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a base station for sendingRRC signaling according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of another base station forsending RRC signaling according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of another base station forsending RRC signaling according to an embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a system for sending RRCsignaling according to an embodiment of the present invention;

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method, a base station,and a system for sending RRC signaling, so that a user equipment cansupport, only by establishing an SRB corresponding to a macro basestation, RRC signaling sent by a Pico eNB, thereby lowering designcomplexity and costs.

To make a person skilled in the art understand the technical solutionsin the present invention better, the following clearly describes thetechnical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention withreference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the presentinvention. Apparently, the described embodiments are merely a partrather than all of the embodiments of the present invention. All otherembodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art based onthe embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts shallfall within the protection scope of the present invention.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a method for sending RRCsignaling, where the method includes the following step:

A macro base station and a pico base station participate in generationof an RRC reconfiguration message according to a measurement report sentby a user equipment UE, and the macro base station sends the RRCreconfiguration message to the UE, where the pico base stationestablishes only one RRC entity that is used to generate a configurationparameter or generate an RRC reconfiguration message.

It should be noted that, the method for sending RRC signaling providedin this embodiment of the present invention may be used in amulti-stream aggregation MSA system.

The measurement report sent by the user equipment UE includes a signalfeature of a neighboring cell.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the pico base station mayestablish only one RRC entity that is used to generate a configurationparameter or generate an RRC reconfiguration message.

It can be learned from the foregoing that, in a method for sending RRCsignaling provided in this embodiment of the present invention, a picobase station establishes only one RRC entity, a macro base station andthe pico base station cooperatively generate an RRC reconfigurationmessage, and finally the macro base station sends the RRCreconfiguration message to a user equipment UE. Therefore, the userequipment UE can support, only by establishing an SRB corresponding tothe macro base station, an RRC reconfiguration message sent by the picobase station, thereby lowering system design complexity and costs.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides another methodfor sending RRC signaling, and as shown in FIG. 3, the method includesthe following steps:

S101: A pico base station receives an X2 interface message sent by amacro base station, where the pico base station establishes only one RRCentity that is used to generate a configuration parameter.

The X2 interface message includes a message for requesting to add/modifya cell, or a message for requesting to add/modify a radio bearer RB.

S102: The pico base station responds to the received X2 interfacemessage and generates a configuration parameter.

S103: Send the generated configuration parameter to the macro basestation, so that the macro base station generates an RRC reconfigurationmessage according to the received configuration parameter, and sends theRRC reconfiguration message to a UE.

It should be noted that, the method for sending RRC signaling providedin this embodiment of the present invention may be used in amulti-stream aggregation MSA system.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the pico base stationestablishes only one RRC entity that is used to generate a configurationparameter.

In this embodiment of the present invention, a Pico eNB establishes onlyone RRC entity, where the RRC entity determines a related configurationparameter at a bottom layer, and the RRC entity of the Pico eNB and anRRC entity of a Macro eNB jointly generate an RRC reconfigurationmessage, where the RRC reconfiguration message is sent by the Macro eNBto a UE. Referring to FIG. 4, a dashed line E in FIG. 4 shows that aMacro eNB communicates with a UE.

When a release of a Pico eNB is earlier than a release of a Macro eNB,for an interaction process between the Pico eNB and the Macro eNB,further refer to FIG. 5, where the process includes the following steps:

S201: A user equipment sends a measurement report to a Macro eNB.

The measurement report includes a signal feature of a neighboring cellof the UE, such as a pico base station with a strongest signal.

S202: The Macro eNB sends, according to the measurement report, amessage for requesting to add/modify a cell or a radio bearer RB to aPico eNB.

S203: The Pico eNB sets a related configuration parameter.

S204: The Pico eNB sends the set configuration parameter to the MacroeNB.

S205: The Macro eNB generates RRC signaling according to the receivedconfiguration parameter.

S206: The Macro eNB sends the RRC signaling to the UE.

S207: The user equipment responds to the RRC signaling.

When a release of a Pico eNB is later than a release of a Macro eNB,because the release of the Pico eNB is later, the Macro eNB cannotidentify a configuration parameter from the Pico eNB, and the Pico eNBneeds to encapsulate the configuration parameter into a container. Foran interaction process between the Pico eNB and the Macro eNB, furtherrefer to FIG. 6, where the process includes the following steps:

S301: A user equipment sends a measurement report to a Macro eNB.

S302: The Macro eNB sends, according to the measurement report, amessage for requesting to add/modify a cell or a radio bearer RB to aPico eNB.

S303: The Pico eNB sets a related configuration parameter andencapsulates the related configuration parameter into a container.

S304: The Pico eNB sends the configuration parameter encapsulated intothe container to the Macro eNB.

S305: The Macro eNB responds to the received container and generates RRCsignaling.

S306: The Macro eNB sends the RRC signaling to the UE, where the RRCsignaling includes the container.

S307: The UE responds to the RRC signaling.

It can be learned from the foregoing that, in a method for sending RRCsignaling provided in this embodiment of the present invention, a picobase station establishes only one RRC entity; the pico base stationresponds to an X2 interface message sent by a macro base station,generates a configuration parameter, and sends the configurationparameter to the macro base station; and the macro base stationgenerates an RRC reconfiguration message according to the configurationparameter and sends the RRC reconfiguration message to a UE. Therefore,the user equipment UE can support, only by establishing an SRBcorresponding to the macro base station, parameter configuration that isset by the pico base station and is corresponding to the RRCreconfiguration message, thereby lowering system design complexity andcosts.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a method forsending RRC signaling, and as shown in FIG. 7, the method includes thefollowing steps:

S401: A pico base station receives an X2 interface message and aconfiguration parameter that are sent by a macro base station, where theX2 interface message includes a message for requesting to add/modify acell, or a message for requesting to add/modify a radio bearer RB, andthe pico base station establishes only one RRC entity that is used togenerate an RRC reconfiguration message.

S402: The pico base station generates an RRC reconfiguration messageaccording to the received X2 interface message and the receivedconfiguration parameter.

S403: Send the generated RRC reconfiguration message to the macro basestation, so that the macro base station sends the received RRCreconfiguration message to a UE.

It can be learned from the foregoing that, in a method for sending RRCsignaling provided in this embodiment of the present invention, a picobase station establishes only one RRC entity; the pico base stationgenerates an RRC reconfiguration message according to an X2 interfacemessage and a configuration parameter that are received from a macrobase station; and the macro base station sends the RRC reconfigurationmessage to a UE. Therefore, the user equipment UE can support, only byestablishing an SRB for communicating with the macro base station, anRRC reconfiguration message sent by the pico base station, therebylowering design complexity and costs.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a method forsending RRC signaling, where the method includes the following steps:

The macro base station sends an X2 interface message to the pico basestation, where the X2 interface message includes a message forrequesting to add/modify a cell, or a message for requesting toadd/modify a radio bearer RB, so that the pico base station responds tothe received X2 interface message, generates a configuration parameter,and sends the generated configuration parameter to the macro basestation; and

the macro base station generates an RRC reconfiguration messageaccording to the received configuration parameter, and sends the RRCreconfiguration message to a UE.

It can be learned from the foregoing that, in a method for sending RRCsignaling provided in this embodiment of the present invention, a picobase station establishes only one RRC entity; a macro base station sendsan X2 interface message to the pico base station; the pico base stationresponds to the X2 interface message, generates a configurationparameter, and sends the configuration parameter to the macro basestation; and the macro base station generates an RRC reconfigurationmessage according to the configuration parameter, and sends the RRCreconfiguration message to a UE. Therefore, the user equipment UE cansupport, only by establishing an SRB for communicating with the macrobase station, a configuration parameter that is set by the pico basestation and is related to the RRC reconfiguration message, therebylowering design complexity and costs.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a method forsending RRC signaling, where the method includes the following steps:

The macro base station sends an X2 interface message to the pico basestation, where the X2 interface message includes a message forrequesting to add/modify a cell, or a message for requesting toadd/modify a radio bearer RB, so that the pico base station responds tothe received X2 interface message, generates a configuration parameter,encapsulates the generated configuration parameter into a container, andsends the container to the macro base station; and

the macro base station generates an RRC reconfiguration message afterreceiving the container, and sends the generated RRC reconfigurationmessage to a UE, where the generated RRC reconfiguration messageincludes the container.

It should be noted that, the method for sending RRC signaling providedin this embodiment of the present invention may be applied to a scenarioin which a release of the pico base station is later than a release ofthe macro base station.

It can be learned from the foregoing that, in a method for sending RRCsignaling provided in this embodiment of the present invention, a picobase station establishes only one RRC entity; a macro base station sendsan X2 interface message to the pico base station; the pico base stationresponds to the X2 interface message, generates a configurationparameter, encapsulates the configuration parameter into a container,and sends the container to the macro base station; and the macro basestation responds to the container, generates an RRC reconfigurationmessage, and sends the RRC reconfiguration message to a UE, where theRRC reconfiguration message includes the container. Therefore, the userequipment UE can support, only by establishing an SRB for communicatingwith the macro base station, a configuration parameter that is set bythe pico base station and is related to the RRC reconfiguration message,thereby lowering design complexity and costs.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a method forsending RRC signaling, where the method includes the following steps:

The macro base station sends an X2 interface message and a configurationparameter to the pico base station, where the X2 interface messageincludes a message for requesting to add/modify a cell, or a message forrequesting to add/modify a radio bearer RB, so that the pico basestation generates an RRC reconfiguration message according to thereceived X2 interface message and the received configuration parameter,and sends the RRC reconfiguration message to the macro base station; and

the macro base station sends the received RRC reconfiguration message toa UE.

It can be learned from the foregoing that, in a method for sending RRCsignaling provided in this embodiment of the present invention, a picobase station establishes only one RRC entity; a macro base station sendsan X2 interface message and a configuration parameter to the pico basestation; and the pico base station generates an RRC reconfigurationmessage according to the X2 interface message and the configurationparameter, and the macro base station sends the RRC reconfigurationmessage to a UE. Therefore, the user equipment UE can support, only byestablishing an SRB for communicating with the macro base station, anRRC reconfiguration message sent by the pico base station, therebylowering design complexity and costs.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a base station,and as shown in FIG. 8, the base station includes a first receivingmodule 501, a first generating module 502, and a first sending module503.

The first receiving module 501 is configured to receive an X2 interfacemessage sent by a macro base station, where the X2 interface messageincludes a message for requesting to add/modify a cell, or a message forrequesting to add/modify a radio bearer RB;

the first generating module 502 is configured to respond to the X2interface message received by the first receiving module 501, andgenerate a configuration parameter; and

the first sending module 503 is configured to send the configurationparameter generated by the first generating module 502 to the macro basestation, so that the macro base station generates an RRC reconfigurationmessage according to the received configuration parameter, and sends theRRC reconfiguration message to a UE;

or,

the first receiving module 501 is configured to receive an X2 interfacemessage sent by a macro base station, where the X2 interface messageincludes a message for requesting to add/modify a cell, or a message forrequesting to add/modify a radio bearer RB;

the first generating module 502 is configured to respond to the X2interface message received by the first receiving module 501, andgenerate a configuration parameter; and

the first sending module 503 is configured to encapsulate theconfiguration parameter generated by the first generating module 502into a container, and send the container to the macro base station, sothat the macro base station generates an RRC reconfiguration messageafter receiving the container, and sends the RRC reconfiguration messageto the UE, where the RRC reconfiguration message includes the container;

or,

the first receiving module 501 is configured to receive an X2 interfacemessage and a configuration parameter that are sent by a macro basestation, where the X2 interface message includes a message forrequesting to add/modify a cell, or a message for requesting toadd/modify a radio bearer RB;

the first generating module 502 is configured to generate an RRCreconfiguration message according to the X2 interface message and theconfiguration parameter that are received by the first receiving module501; and

the first sending module 503 is configured to send the RRCreconfiguration message generated by the first generating module 502 tothe macro base station, so that the macro base station sends thereceived RRC reconfiguration message to a UE.

It can be learned from the foregoing that, in a base station for sendingRRC signaling provided in this embodiment of the present invention, onlyone RRC entity is established; a first generating module 502 of the basestation generates a configuration parameter according to an X2 interfacemessage received by a first receiving module 501, so that a macro basestation that receives the configuration parameter generates an RRCreconfiguration message, and sends the RRC reconfiguration message to aUE. Alternatively, a first generating module 502 of the base stationgenerates an RRC reconfiguration message according to an X2 interfacemessage and a configuration parameter that are received by a firstreceiving module 501, and a macro base station sends the RRCreconfiguration message to a UE. Therefore, the user equipment UE cansupport, only by establishing an SRB for communicating with the macrobase station, an RRC reconfiguration message sent by a pico basestation, thereby lowering design complexity and costs.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a base station,and as shown in FIG. 9, the base station includes a second sendingmodule 601, a second generating module 602, and a third sending module603.

The second sending module 601 is configured to send an X2 interfacemessage to a pico base station, where the X2 interface message includesa message for requesting to add/modify a cell, or a message forrequesting to add/modify a radio bearer RB, so that the pico basestation responds to the received X2 interface message, generates aconfiguration parameter, and sends the generated configuration parameterto the second generating module 602;

the second generating module 602 is configured to generate an RRCreconfiguration message according to the received configurationparameter; and

the third sending module 603 is configured to send the RRCreconfiguration message generated by the second generating module 602 toa UE;

or,

the second sending module 601 is configured to send an X2 interfacemessage to a pico base station, where the X2 interface message includesa message for requesting to add/modify a cell, or a message forrequesting to add/modify a radio bearer RB, so that the pico basestation responds to the received X2 interface message, generates aconfiguration parameter, encapsulates the generated configurationparameter into a container, and sends the container to the secondgenerating module 602;

the second generating module 602 is configured to respond to thereceived container and generate an RRC reconfiguration message; and

the third sending module 603 is configured to send the RRCreconfiguration message generated by the second generating module 602 toa UE, where the RRC reconfiguration message includes the container;

or,

as shown in FIG. 10, the base station includes a fourth sending module701 and a fifth sending module 702, where

the fourth sending module 701 is configured to send an X2 interfacemessage and a configuration parameter to a pico base station, where theX2 interface message includes a message for requesting to add/modify acell, or a message for requesting to add/modify a radio bearer RB, sothat the pico base station generates an RRC reconfiguration messageaccording to the received X2 interface message and the receivedconfiguration parameter, and sends the RRC reconfiguration message tothe fifth sending module 702; and

the fifth sending module 702 is configured to send the received RRCreconfiguration message to a UE.

It can be learned from the foregoing that, in a base station for sendingRRC signaling provided in this embodiment of the present invention, amacro base station sends an X2 interface message, so that a pico basestation responds to the X2 interface message, generates a configurationparameter, and sends the configuration parameter to the macro basestation; and the macro base station generates an RRC reconfigurationmessage according to the configuration parameter and sends the RRCreconfiguration message to a UE. Alternatively, a macro base stationsends an X2 interface message and a configuration parameter, so that apico base station generates an RRC reconfiguration message according tothe X2 interface message and the configuration parameter, and the macrobase station sends the RRC reconfiguration message to a UE. Therefore,the user equipment UE can support, only by establishing an SRB forcommunicating with the macro base station, an RRC reconfigurationmessage sent by the pico base station, thereby lowering system designcomplexity and costs.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a system forsending RRC signaling, and as shown in FIG. 11, the system includes amacro base station 801 and a pico base station 802.

The macro base station 801 and the pico base station 802 are configuredto participate in generation of an RRC reconfiguration message.

The macro base station 801 is further configured to send the generatedRRC reconfiguration message to the UE.

The pico base station 802 establishes only one RRC entity that is usedto generate a configuration parameter or generate an RRC reconfigurationmessage.

It can be learned from the foregoing that, in a system for sending RRCsignaling provided in this embodiment of the present invention, a macrobase station 801 and a pico base station 802 participate in generationof an RRC reconfiguration message; the pico base station 802 establishesonly one RRC entity that is used to generate a configuration parameteror an RRC reconfiguration message; the RRC reconfiguration messagecooperatively generated by the macro base station 801 and the pico basestation 802 is uniformly sent by the macro base station 801 to a UE.Therefore, the user equipment UE can support, only by establishing anSRB for communicating with the macro base station 801, RRC signalingsent by the pico base station 802, thereby lowering design complexityand costs.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides another systemfor sending RRC signaling, where the system includes a macro basestation and a pico base station.

The pico base station includes a first receiving module, a firstgenerating module, and a first sending module.

The first receiving module is configured to receive an X2 interfacemessage sent by the macro base station, where the X2 interface messageincludes a message for requesting to add/modify a cell, or a message forrequesting to add/modify a radio bearer RB;

the first generating module is configured to respond to the X2 interfacemessage received by the first receiving module, and generate aconfiguration parameter; and

the first sending module is configured to send the configurationparameter generated by the first generating module to the macro basestation, so that the macro base station generates an RRC reconfigurationmessage by using the received configuration parameter, and sends thegenerated RRC reconfiguration message to a UE;

or,

the first receiving module is configured to receive an X2 interfacemessage sent by the macro base station, where the X2 interface messageincludes a message for requesting to add/modify a cell, or a message forrequesting to add/modify a radio bearer RB;

the first generating module is configured to respond to the X2 interfacemessage received by the first receiving module, and generate aconfiguration parameter; and

the first sending module is configured to encapsulate the configurationparameter generated by the first generating module into a container, andsend the container to the macro base station, so that the macro basestation generates an RRC reconfiguration message after receiving thecontainer, and sends the RRC reconfiguration message to the UE, wherethe RRC reconfiguration message includes the container;

or,

the first receiving module is configured to receive an X2 interfacemessage and a configuration parameter that are sent by the macro basestation, where the X2 interface message includes a message forrequesting to add/modify a cell, or a message for requesting toadd/modify a radio bearer RB;

the first generating module is configured to generate an RRCreconfiguration message according to the X2 interface message and theconfiguration parameter that are received by the first receiving module;and

the first sending module is configured to send the RRC reconfigurationmessage generated by the first generating module to the macro basestation, so that the macro base station sends the received RRCreconfiguration message to a UE.

It can be learned from the foregoing that, a system for sending RRCsignaling provided in this embodiment of the present invention includesa macro base station and a pico base station; the pico base stationresponds to an X2 interface message sent by the macro base station,generates a configuration parameter, and sends the configurationparameter to the macro base station, so that the macro base stationgenerates an RRC reconfiguration message according to the configurationparameter, and sends the RRC reconfiguration message to a UE.Alternatively, the pico base station generates an RRC reconfigurationmessage according to an X2 interface message and a configurationparameter that are sent by the macro base station, and the macro basestation sends the RRC reconfiguration message to a UE. Therefore, theuser equipment UE can support, only by establishing an SRB forcommunicating with the macro base station, RRC signaling sent by thepico base station, thereby lowering design complexity and costs.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides another systemfor sending RRC signaling, where the system includes a macro basestation and a pico base station.

The macro base station includes:

a second sending module, a second generating module, and a third sendingmodule.

The second sending module is configured to send an X2 interface messageto the pico base station, where the X2 interface message includes amessage for requesting to add/modify a cell, or a message for requestingto add/modify a radio bearer RB, so that the pico base station respondsto the received X2 interface message, generates a configurationparameter, and sends the generated configuration parameter to the secondgenerating module;

the second generating module is configured to generate an RRCreconfiguration message according to the received configurationparameter; and

the third sending module is configured to send the RRC reconfigurationmessage generated by the second generating module to a UE;

or,

the second sending module is configured to send an X2 interface messageto the pico base station, where the X2 interface message includes amessage for requesting to add/modify a cell, or a message for requestingto add/modify a radio bearer RB, so that the pico base station respondsto the received X2 interface message, generates a configurationparameter, encapsulates the generated configuration parameter into acontainer, and sends the container to the second generating module;

the second generating module is configured to respond to the receivedcontainer and generate an RRC reconfiguration message; and

the third sending module is configured to send the RRC reconfigurationmessage generated by the second generating module to a UE, where the RRCreconfiguration message includes the container;

or,

the base station includes a fourth sending module and a fifth sendingmodule, where

the fourth sending module is configured to send an X2 interface messageand a configuration parameter to the pico base station, where the X2interface message includes a message for requesting to add/modify acell, or a message for requesting to add/modify a radio bearer RB, sothat the pico base station generates an RRC reconfiguration messageaccording to the received X2 interface message and the receivedconfiguration parameter, and sends the generated RRC reconfigurationmessage to the fifth sending module; and

the fifth sending module is configured to send the received RRCreconfiguration message to a UE.

It can be learned from the foregoing that, a system for sending RRCsignaling provided in this embodiment of the present invention includesa macro base station and a pico base station; the macro base stationsends an X2 interface message to the pico base station, so that the picobase station responds to the X2 interface message, generates aconfiguration parameter, and sends the configuration parameter to themacro base station; and therefore, the macro base station generates anRRC reconfiguration message and sends the RRC reconfiguration message toa UE. Alternatively, the macro base station sends an X2 interfacemessage and a configuration parameter to the pico base station, so thatthe pico base station generates an RRC reconfiguration message accordingto the X2 interface message and the configuration parameter, and themacro base station sends the RRC reconfiguration message to a UE.Therefore, the user equipment UE can support, only by establishing anSRB for communicating with the macro base station, an RRCreconfiguration message sent by the pico base station, thereby loweringdesign complexity and costs.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment of the present invention,RRC signaling includes an RRC reconfiguration message.

A person of ordinary skill in the art may understand that all or some ofthe steps of the methods in the embodiments may be implemented by aprogram instructing related hardware. The program may be stored in acomputer-readable storage medium. The storage medium may include: aread-only memory (ROM, Read-Only Memory), a random access memory (RAM,Random Access Memory), a magnetic disk, or an optical disc.

In addition, in the foregoing embodiments, the description of eachembodiment has respective focuses. For a part that is not described indetail in an embodiment, refer to related descriptions in otherembodiments.

The foregoing has described a method, a base station, and a system forsending RRC signaling provided in the embodiments of the presentinvention in detail. Several examples are used herein for expounding theprinciples and implementation manners of the present invention. Thedescription of the embodiments is merely intended to help understand themethod of the present invention and core ideas thereof. In addition, aperson skilled in the art can make various modifications and variationsto the invention with respect to specific implementation manners andapplication scopes according to the ideas of the invention. Inconclusion, the content of the specification shall not be construed as alimitation on the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, by a firstnetwork device, a configuration parameter of a second network devicefrom a radio resource control (RRC) entity of the second network device;and transmitting, by the first network device, a RRC reconfigurationmessage to a terminal through a RRC entity of the first network device,a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) entity of the first networkdevice, a radio link control (RLC) entity of the first network device, amedia access control (MAC) entity of first network device and a physicallayer of first network device, wherein the RRC reconfiguration messagecomprises the configuration parameter of the second network device. 2.The method according to claim 1, further comprising establishing, by thefirst network device, a first signaling radio bearer (SRB) with theterminal.
 3. The method according to claim 2, further comprisingskipping, by the second network device, establishing a second SRB withthe terminal.
 4. The method according to claim 2, wherein establishingthe first SRB with the terminal further comprises establishing, by thefirst network device, the first SRB with the terminal in initial access.5. A first network device comprising: a processor; a receiver configuredto cooperate with the processor to receive a configuration parameter ofa second network device from a radio resource control (RRC) entity ofthe second network device; and a transmitter configured to cooperatewith the processor to transmit a RRC reconfiguration message to aterminal through a RRC entity of the first network device, a packet dataconvergence protocol (PDCP) entity of the first network device, a radiolink control (RLC) entity of the first network device, a media accesscontrol (MAC) entity of the first network device and a physical layer ofthe first network device, wherein the RRC reconfiguration messagecomprises the configuration parameter of the second network device. 6.The first network device according to claim 5, wherein the the processoris configured to establish a signaling radio bearer (SRB) with theterminal.
 7. The first network device according to claim 6, wherein inestablishing the SRB with the terminal, the processor is furtherconfigured to establish the SRB with the terminal in initial access. 8.A system comprising a first network device and a second network device,wherein the second network device is configured to: transmit aconfiguration parameter of a second network device from a radio resourcecontrol (RRC) entity of the second network device; and the first networkdevice is configured to: receive the configuration parameter of thesecond network device; and transmit a RRC reconfiguration message to aterminal through a RRC entity of the first network device, a packet dataconvergence protocol (PDCP) entity of the first network device, a radiolink control (RLC) entity of the first network device, a media accesscontrol (MAC) entity of the first network device and a physical layer ofthe first network device, wherein the RRC reconfiguration messagecomprises the configuration parameter of the second network device. 9.The system according to claim 8, wherein the first network device isfurther configured to establish a first signaling radio bearer (SRB)with the terminal.
 10. The system according to claim 9, wherein thesecond network device is further configured to skip establishing asecond SRB with the terminal.
 11. The system according to claim 10,wherein in establishing the first SRB, the first network device isfurther configured to establish the first SRB with the terminal ininitial access.
 12. The system according to claim 10, further comprisingthe terminal configured to establish the first SRB only with the firstnetwork device.